Did you ever have a surprise birthday party? You know, that thing that never works out, because one of the guests inadvertently spoils the surprise, or the birthday girl/boy arrives earlier than expected, or notices that something odd was going on. Well, during our hike, José managed to arrange such a surprise for Moiken’s birthday… Continue Reading

After crossing an incredibly long causeway, we finally got closer to the North Sea coast of the Netherlands. On top of what we had expected, namely wide sand beaches and strong wind (mostly in the opposed direction), we encountered soft dune landscapes and even some hills. The variety of plants and animals was surprising: All… Continue Reading

It took us a few days to walk from Lübeck to Hamburg, and despite the pleasant surroundings and almost non-stop sunshine, we could hardly wait to finally arrive in one of our favorite cities. Hamburg had been on our mind for quite a while, as we could stay with friends there and also because it… Continue Reading

The boat trip with Swanje and Loreley on our rest weekend included a very short stop in Wismar, a charming hanseatic town, boasting some impressive examples of Brick Gothic architecture. In the following hiking days, we visited Wismar two more times; once for lodging and the second time hiking through. A few days later, we… Continue Reading

For some more days, we were hiking close to the water, but not at the open sea; several islands in front of the mainland had created calm lagoons rimmed with weeds or small forests. Soon we would reach the German Baltic coast again, with an impressive succession of seaside resorts, still buzzing with holidaymakers in… Continue Reading

We arrived in Germany, Moiken’s motherland, where we encountered a different hiking reality. The regions are much more densely populated and there are more places open to eat or to sleep, even in the low season. Finally, we spoke the native language of the country and could talk to all people we met. In terms… Continue Reading

On the evening of day 121 of our trip, we went to the train station of Trzebiatów to pick up a very special visitor. Moiken’s mum Regine arrived to join us for a week of hiking along the Polish coastline until the German border! But first, we did a quick tour through the town and… Continue Reading